2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[heirloomgal]

The favas are wilting, and have begun blackening & dying one by one. I've heavily mulched 1/2 of the row at home, to see if keeping the roots cool makes a difference. The plants are only 12" tall & flowering, but not setting any pods. If I don't see improvement in a few days, I may just pull them & use that space for some sprouted soybeans left over from one of the potted plantings.

What kind of temperatures are you having?

 

[Zeedman]

What kind of temperatures are you having?

Mid to upper 80's-low 90's F, dropping to low 80's Wednesday. Rain & storms in the forecast this week, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Soybeans struggling too. All good at home, even with varieties which tested low... but 2 varieties in the rural garden have a single sprout (!?!?). One variety there is so far a no show - and it germination tested at about 40%. Four varieties OK though.

Something going on in the rural garden, I never had so much trouble there with soybeans as I have the last 2 seasons. Maybe something introduced with all of the leaves & soil I've brought in? I may have to pre-sprout all beans & soybeans for that site going forward. Fortunately, I started backup transplants for all the beans there, so have 16 healthy plants of each. I might lose a few of the runner beans, they outgrew their pots before I found time to get them in.

 

[flowerbug]

picked a Purple Dove bean yesterday while doing the garden tour. plenty of beautiful flowers on those plants for more pods to come. seems to be a few weeks later than "normal" (whatever that might be! ) will pick through them later this week as the neighboring peas are also getting to be ready.

 

[heirloomgal]

Mid to upper 80's-low 90's F, dropping to low 80's Wednesday. Rain & storms in the forecast this week, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Soybeans struggling too. All good at home, even with varieties which tested low... but 2 varieties in the rural garden have a single sprout (!?!?). One variety there is so far a no show - and it germination tested at about 40%. Four varieties OK though.

Something going on in the rural garden, I never had so much trouble there with soybeans as I have the last 2 seasons. Maybe something introduced with all of the leaves & soil I've brought in? I may have to pre-sprout all beans & soybeans for that site going forward. Fortunately, I started backup transplants for all the beans there, so have 16 healthy plants of each. I might lose a few of the runner beans, they outgrew their pots before I found time to get them in.

Sounds like the bean seed flies may have found your garden @Zeedman , and they appear to like soybeans a lot. I had some fairly minor damage in my P. vulgaris rows this year and last, BUT with the exception of a single seed, every single soybean I planted in ground got eaten by them and there was zero emergence. And the germ rates of the seeds were fine because I started all the transplants with them, I just wanted to fill in some of the leftover space with extra seeds. Like you I went a looong time with no problems, and then about 2 or 3 years ago I started to have a bit of trouble. I don't know, they are drawn to organic matter in decay, the leaves you turned in may have had an effect.

I honestly wonder if those bugs are a cyclical problem, in that over the course of a period of time - maybe a decade - their numbers rise and fall like rabbits. I even more so wonder if they transfer memory to offspring as carrot rust flies do, once you have them, you have them. For now, I'd like to think it's more the cycles of the planet. 🤞 🤞 🤞

eta: My plants are okay with 90, but if you're breaking the 90 mark, I guess that might be too much for them. If you can get even one to survive though you may be on your way to having a slightly more heat resistant selection.

 

[heirloomgal]

picked a Purple Dove bean yesterday while doing the garden tour. plenty of beautiful flowers on those plants for more pods to come. seems to be a few weeks later than "normal" (whatever that might be! ) will pick through them later this week as the neighboring peas are also getting to be ready.

WOW! A mature green bean already!! Lucky guy!

 

[flowerbug]

WOW! A mature green bean already!! Lucky guy!

planted May 4th, survived a few frosts (one covered and one not).

 

[heirloomgal]

I took a bunch of network bean pictures today to post, and most of them turned out terrible because I missed the sunset. I got a few okay random ones to post. We are going to hit a peak in temps tomorrow, real feel 100F/38C, but then it goes downward to very liveable, high 70's F/ mid 20's C. So, I guess this heat has really been a blessing because when I looked back at photos taken even a week ago, the vines have really gotten so much bigger. The heat sure made many of them fly.

The general state of the network semi-runners, they were the first beans to start climbing. The more I grow semi-runners the more I like them. Some of these have reached the top of the stick so I've clipped a few. Might put in some skinny, taller sticks if they are still looking to go up. I wonder if in their wilder forms this is more or less the average growth habit they have. I find semi-runners a highly productive and vigorous bean type.

Not a great photo, but you get the idea, this is network bean Echte Kipfler - I can't believe how tall these vines are! I'm not sure how tall that sapling is, they were all different heights this year, but it is a tall one, definitely over 9 feet. And it has already reached the top! What great bean! The big tree on the left, I've got a funeral planned for that beast this fall. If I can get DH to agree.

@Bluejay77's Paul Bunyan Giant, this bean has had a unique quality (at least from what I can tell in planting a half dozen seeds, lol) it's been especially impervious to water penetrating it's seed coat. It's the wildest thing. They sprouted a bit later as a result - I even dug up an area around the pole after awhile to see if anything was happening down there, and found a perfectly intact bean seed. I put it back in and it did eventually sprout! (The black chunks are wood ash that I put around the plants to protect them.)

The leaves of pole bean Grand Mere are especially smooth. I'm looking forward to seeing these bean seeds fresh, as the seeds I bought (and planted) were pretty poor in quality and old looking. Tiny little seeds.

The Fingerprint Fava plants. I'm impressed with how they've stood up to the heat. This seems like a taller variety than the other 2 I've grown. It's starting to flower, so pods are finally on the way. Needs more tying up.

Lastochka was one of the last bean rows I planted and so is smaller than most other beans. I've been worried about my marauder getting them because they have no protection where they are. So I tried to make them inaccessible this way

Hopefully I'll get some better pics this week!

 

[Branching Out]

Two of my network beans have settled in nicely, in a hot sunny bed alongside a couple of rudbeckia and with a border of nasturtiums to help keep their roots cool. In the back row are Van Gogh's Olive semi-runners, and running down the centre of the bed are Orange Speckled Tepary Beans. The teparies have such luminescent lime green foliage. So far, so good!

 

[heirloomgal]

Two of my network beans have settled in nicely, in a hot sunny bed alongside a couple of rudbeckia and with a border of nasturtiums to help keep their roots cool. In the back row are Van Gogh's Olive semi-runners, and running down the centre of the bed are Orange Speckled Tepary Beans. The teparies have such luminescent lime green foliage. So far, so good!

Such cute little leaves on the teparies! What a pretty combination with the nasturtiums, very nice.

I'm growing out Van Gogh's Olive too @Branching Out , can't wait to see them freshly harvested! What a color!

 

[Branching Out]

Such cute little leaves on the teparies! What a pretty combination with the nasturtiums, very nice.

I'm growing out Van Gogh's Olive too @Branching Out , can't wait to see them freshly harvested! What a color!

That is cool that we each selected Van Gogh's Olive out of the vast pool of choices. I am finding it so interesting to get to know each new kind of bean. This particular bed where I planted my network beans is very dry, so I used row cover for the first few weeks to help keep extra moisture in. I think that it helped them get established.

Also, do you remember on May 22nd I tried pinching my Trionfo Violetto pole beans? It is now six weeks later, they have grown a lot. The unpinched ones and the ones pinched above the second set of leaves are each very tall at 7'; they are blooming and healthy looking. The ones that were pinched above the first set of leaves are about a foot shorter with no buds yet, and rather anemic looking; their leaves have remained light green ever since I pinched them. (In the photo they are pictured furthest to the right). It will be fun to continue to watch how their growth develops. 😊